GPS Tracking in the Carpet Cleaning Industry

Tracking the real-time location of your vehicle fleet is not only beneficial to your business, it’s crucial to your bottom line.

Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll introduce you to some of the industries we work with at GPS Commander.

First up, we’re taking a close look at the carpet cleaning industry.

GPS Commander uses an innovate tracking device, called Ranger CT , which tracks real-time vehicle location, as well as the status of truck-mounted cleaning machines, allowing carpet cleaning and restoration companies to monitor actual worker productivity in real time.

For over 20 years, Rite-Way Carpet has been the premier carpet cleaning organization in the Phoenix, Arizona market, specializing in both commercial and residential work. Outfitting their fleet with the latest GPS technology from GPS Commander is part of the evolution the company is undergoing in order to become more efficient, cost effective and customer-friendly.

Improved Customer Service

Since equipping their fleet of cleaning vehicles with GPS devices from GPS Commander, Rite-Way has seen measurable improvements in customer service, noted Ms. Leslie Cruz, General Manager of Rite Way Carpet. The ability of the system to find the closest vehicle to a customer location and being able to provide accurate ETA’s to customers have both been important factors in meeting their service goals. “We can go into the locator and find the nearest van in the area,” she explains.

Improved Communication

The drivers at Rite-Way have a route sheet but having GPS tracking has improved driver communications. For example, Rite-Way’s dispatcher uses GPS Commander’s routing tool to provide turn-by-turn directions to the customer. In addition, the system allows Rite-Way to create a landmark in the computer for each customer, such that when the van arrives at or leaves from a client location, the dispatcher receives an alert. It has helped Rite-Way communicate more effectively with their fleet by reducing unnecessary communications, such as asking the drivers where they are or what they are doing. “It has helped us open up more of the communication with the driver, an honest approach really,” says Cruz.

With GPS Commander, our dispatch staff are more informed, more empowered, and there is less room for error. “It’s an asset to us,” says Cruz of GPS Commander.

Improved Productivity

The Ranger CT unit not only monitors the truck, it also monitors the carpet cleaning machine attached to the truck. Cruz says that they now know exactly when the truck arrives on property, when the machine is turned on and how much time elapsed in between arrival and production. It also allows them to monitor how long the machine is on. For example, a customer who only needs one room cleaned should take only about 30-45 minutes. “If it goes longer than that, we can ask, ‘What did you clean?’” says Cruz.

Improved Accountability

One of the key benefits of the system is its ability to use historical tools and reports to analyze and measure actual work performed. Knowing exactly how long a carpet cleaning technician spent on a particular site and the total machine on time provides billing justification and proof that is invaluable to Rite-Way accounting staff, while demonstrating professionalism to customers. “It has been more efficient for us and saved us manpower; it has been able to pinpoint productivity — and lack of, and all those things come down to savings,” says Cruz. “We’re not wasting money,” she says.

Check out Rite-Way Carpet Cleaning on the web at www.ritewaycarpet.com.